DMM Retail Industry e-News Issue #219

2022, What Do You Holler For? 2022, It’s The Year of The Dollar Store!

While 2021 was an improvement over 2020 when it comes to investing in real estate, investors are still cautious but looking forward to 2022 for the possibilities and potential. Maurie Backman, a personal finance writer at The Motley fool website, has put together a list of her top four things real estate investors should be aware of as we head into the coming year. Among them, the suggestion that while malls could struggle, shopping centers may thrive. “While the pandemic may have fueled an uptick in store closures, one breed of store that hasn’t fallen victim to that trend is discount retailers. In fact, brands like Dollar General and Dollar Tree announced major store expansion plans this year, and those could continue well into 2022. The winners in that scenario? Shopping centers. That’s because dollar stores have the potential to serve as anchor tenants — and fill vacancies left over by the pandemic,” Backman noted.

Post-Pandemic Shopping to Bow Down to Robots (and Six Other Retail Design Trends)

Many have asked, what is the future of retail? In some cases, the answer is robots. Yes, robots. Not the world-ending kind like in those Transformers movies, or maybe more, but not exactly, like the lovable but still scary ones similar to Rosie the robot from The Jetsons (which, thank you internet, some folks have determined that Jetson Dad, George, is going to be born sometime next summer). The folks at INSTORE compiled a list of the ways retail design could change post-pandemic, among them the concept of robots helping out more than they already do in-store. “Expect robots to be doing a lot more than cleaning floors in the near future of retail. In fact, if it is possible and it can make retail leaner, safer and more sanitary expect it to be changing shopping experiences soon,” the article predicts. We can also expect more curbside pick-up options, and “reimagined…point-of-sale areas, allowing for touch-free transactions.”

$50M Mixed-Use Development with “A Different Shopping Experience” Planned for Lafayette, LA

A new $50 million commercial mixed-use development that is looking to offer “a different shopping experience” could come to Lafayette, Louisiana as soon as this summer. Keaty Real Estate, and several partners, are in the process of bringing “a new architectural style and lifestyle center” centered around upscale boutiques, local and regional restaurants, and entertainment venues, as reported recently in the Daily Advertiser. “I’m willing to take bets on young entrepreneurs and see their ideas flourish. I’m going to take some of those risks,” said Derek Curry, development owner, and operator. They expect to use a 6,000-square-foot building with rooftop space as a “food hall” and are looking to include housing facilities